DG delivers Sustain 2007 keynote address
October 2007
News
At the opening of the recent Sustain 2007 conference, the director general, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), Jabulani Sindane, addressed the topic of Water Services Performance in his keynote address, picking up on the conference theme of 'water management excellence'.
Jabulani Sindane, director general, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
Sindane spoke of the significant progress that has been achieved over recent years in terms of infrastructure delivery, but cautioned that the success of this programme is threatened by one major shortcoming - effective and sustainable management.
The water services backlog is negatively impacted by project failures and comebacks. A recent audit initiated by DWAF on the functionality of completed water services projects revealed that a major portion of the projects do not comply with minimum delivery standards.
Estimated water losses in local municipalities are in the order of 40%, and major interventions are needed in terms of waste water management, where at least 30% of plants require urgent intervention and more than 60% require institutional and management improvements.
The DG acknowledged that the sector is facing many challenges: meeting the basic services targets, ensuring water services quality and sustainability as well as supporting economic growth and development and urged delegates to take the sector and the associated outcomes to the next level, wishing them well with the conference.
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